Goyal pushes India–Israel startup collaboration across deeptech, medtech

India and Israeli startups can collaborate in areas such as cybersecurity and medical devices to boost the innovation ecosystem, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

He said technology and innovation will be a key element of the proposed trade agreement between the two countries.

"We can collaborate with Israel to promote our own startup ecosystem, which we are aspiring to take it to the levels of deep tech and high-quality innovation at competitive prices, given the economies of scale that India has to offer," Goyal told reporters.

The minister is in Israel for bilateral trade talks with his counterpart, Nir Barkat, and is leading a 60-member business delegation.

"We are looking at deep partnership with Israel which has one startup with every 1,000 people," he said, adding that Israel has built innovative solutions across agriculture, health and climate technologies.

The collaboration, he said, will be important as India aims to become the "startup capital of the world". He added that startups from both countries can work together in sectors such as cybersecurity, mobility, low-carbon steel production and medtech devices. The two countries can also explore setting up a startup bridge, he said.

Goyal’s comments come amid a broader push by the government to strengthen the country’s startup ecosystem. In April, he launched The Bharat Project, a YourStory initiative aimed at empowering 1 million entrepreneurs from Tier II and III cities and rural India by providing access to mentorship, funding and digital tools.

Earlier this year, the minister also announced a second tranche of Rs 10,000 crore under the government’s Fund of Funds initiative to support deeptech startups. He said the new guidelines will focus on promoting innovation and the development of newer technologies, noting that India has already committed the entire first tranche of Rs 10,000 crore.